Half To Death
by Neo Matrix Chix
Summary: What happens when Nick and Greg are processing a crime scene, when the murderer returns to the scene of the crime? Will mostly be a friendship fic, unless readers want more.
1. A Gold Trophy 2 Shots An Arsonist

hey everyone! this is my first story, so I'd really it if everyone could R&R! be constructive if you want! So enjoy! (yes i know I talk a lot)

**  
Chapter 1**

**1 Gold Trophy 2 Gunshots An Arsonist A Recipe For Murder**

"I'll meet your 20 bucks, and raise it 2." Greg said slyly. Nick looked up from his cards to see Greg, then look at Warrick.

"Alright then. Read 'em and weep my friends, flush!" Warrick lay out his cards across the table. Next was Nick.

"I should've folded when I had the chance." He grumbled. 3 aces.

At first Greg looked sad, but then rearranged his cards and a smile the size of Texas came across his face.

"Royal flush!" Greg said ecstatically. He reached in for the money, which was quite a bit.

"I've never one this much in a poker game since..... ever!" Nick laughed at Greg. Then he heard someone clear there throat.

They turned to see Grissom in the doorway.

"I'd like to pass out assignments before I get fired, thank you." He walked towards the table and started handing out files.

"Warrick, Cathrine, D.B. In the desert. Sara, your with me. Greg you can go with Nick. But NO fooling around, got it?" They both nodded there heads in agreement and waited for Grissom to leave to really celebrate.

"This is awesome! First crime scene, and I'm going with my best buddy!" Greg was dancing around the room. Everybody started laughing until Grissom came back.

"When I pass out assignments, I like to see you get to work, not you practicing your river-dancing!" Grissom said sternly. Everybody gathered there kits and left the room.

"And you didn't tell me he was right behind me because?....." Greg glared at Nick, waiting for him to finish up the sentence.

"Some things are meant to be learned the hard way." Nick laughed and left the room, followed by Greg.

Greg and Nick got to the crime scene. They entered the house after finding out the D.B. Was April Hincoff, single and 24 years old.

"Died of blunt force trauma to the head" Nick confirmed. There were open cuts on her forehead, temple and neck.

"No defensive wounds. She either knew her killer, or had her back turned." Greg suggested.

"I'll check the kitchen, you check the bedroom." Greg waggled his eyebrows, followed by small laugh from Nick.

They went to there places and began searching. Nothing, nothing, nothing....

"Hey Nick, I think I've got somethin' here!" Greg called to his friend in the kitchen.

Nick went to the back of the house and went into the bedroom.

"What's that?" Nick asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Hair fibers. Of all people I would expect you to know that." Greg flashed him a smile.

Nick gave a small laugh. "I'll bag it and get it to trace." He went back into the kitchen and got out a bag to put in the hair fibers. He continued to search for any signs of DNA or any pieces of evidence.

He was checking the counter when he spotted something. "Fingernail." There was a small piece of somebody's fingernail, as if they had caught it on the counter. He bagged the evidence and continued. He heard a sound, but figured it was just Greg trying to scare him again. He slowly got up so he could foil Greg's plan to scare him. He was stood in the kitchen and turned his head slightly to the side.

By the time he realized what was going on, it was too late. Something gold hit him, right in the head. He fell forward, onto the linoleum. Then came another strike, this time to his ribs. It wasn't from the object used to hit his head, it was someone's foot. There was a menacing CRACK. Pain surged through his body and he fell further to the ground. He felt kick after kick, punch after punch. There was the gold object again. He couldn't see clearly. It looked to be like a trophy. He could suddenly taste copper in his mouth. Blood.

He'd lost track of all the blows to his ribs and stomach. Then he heard two gunshots. Or were they gunshots? Yep, definitely gunshots. His leg went completely numb, He looked down and almost instantly his whole leg turned red. Then he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He tried to look at his stomach but all he saw was red. He leaned forward and started coughing. He couched all over the floor. More blood. He tried not to pass out, but he couldn't stop himself.

He heard a struggle in a room close by. 'He's after Greg'. He looked in the direction the sounds were coming from and there was a man, dressed in all black, beating Greg with the same gold object. He couldn't stay awake any longer. He leaned forward, and with one last cough, he passed out.

"Nick." Greg said faintly. The trophy connected with his back, sending him to the ground. He tried to fight it, but the pain was unbearable. He saw Nick out of the corner of his eye, coughing up blood. He tried to reach for his cell to call for help, but the masked man saw him reach for it. He kicked him so hard, he nearly passed out. His vision was getting blurry, and he could barely hear.

The masked man stood in the middle of the room, lit a match and threw it across the room. The room lit up almost instantly. That's all Greg could bare, he too had passed out.


	2. From Bad To Worse

hey everyone! I decided to update as soon as I could! As allways R&R. One thing I forgot to do in the last chapter was the disclaimer! Funny.Keep in mind I'm not a doctor, so don't sue me if I don't get all the medical terms right. Now on with the story!

Disclaimer: ok so I don't own any of them, wish I did but I don't. But I'd take a guest appearance on the show any day!

**  
Chapter 2**

**From Bad To Worse**

The firemen busted down the door and the room was full of smoke and fire. They brought in water hoses and began putting out the fire.

"The neighbors had heard something going on at the house, then saw fire through the window and called 911." Brass informed Grissom.

Grissom barely heard him. He was too focused on the door of the house. After what seemed like hours they finally got the flames down, and were dragging out two lumps.

"Oh my God." Warrick said shocked. They were pulling out Nick and Greg. They both looked to be unconscious. They were severely beaten, lots of bruises. Then he noticed the two gunshots in Nick. The paramedics rushed to him first, trying to stop the bleeding. Suddenly, it looked like Nick was waking up, but it was only just enough time to cough up more blood.

"Internal bleeding." He heard one of the paramedics say. He looked away. He couldn't stand to see them this way.

"All that blood." Warrick said, to no one in particular. "I don't which one was beaten more, Nick or Greg." Grissom looked up to face him.

"Does it matter? We need to worry about the who and the how." Grissom stated.

"Don't forget the why." Grissom and Warrick got in their Tahoe's and drove behind the ambulance to the hospital.  
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Warrick sat quietly in the in the waiting room with Grissom when the girls showed up. They were both in tears. Cathrine had calmed down by now and sat next to Warrick, but Sara was pacing the room waiting for the doctor.

Finally the doctor came to the waiting room.

"Are there any relatives of Mr...." He looked down at his sheet. "Mr. Nick Stokes and Mr. Greg Sanders?"

"We're all their family. We're all they've got in Vegas." The doctor agreed to tell them their condition.

"They're both in surgery right now. It's taking longer than we'd expected. Greg has had some head trauma, a few cracked ribs and two completely broken ones. When he does recover, we expect him to wake up in at a few days." They all nodded, so the doctor continued.

"Nick is in worse condition though. He has many broken ribs, about four. His leg will be fine after we get the bullet out, we aren't sure about his stomach area. The shot went right past his important arteries but we don't know if it hit his kidney or not. He might need a blood transfusion, and he's got bleeding in part of his lung. He won't be able to talk. If he does, tell a doctor right away, to much exertion and it could kill him." The doctor finished. Sara had more tears coming down her face.

"But.. he'll be okay right?" She asked softly.

"He might be in a coma for awhile. We'll know more when the surgery is over." The doctor closed his book and headed back to the emergency room. Sara finally stopped pacing and sat right down on the hard floor. Warrick put a hand on her shoulder, and gave her a reassuring smile.  
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4 days after their surgery, the CSI team had found out that Nick in fact did need a blood transfusion. The bullet just missed his kidney's and he was recovering fine. Greg was in his hospital room, still unconscious, with Cathrine by his side. Cathrine and Sara had agreed to stay with them and switch off rooms every once in a while. Sara had told Cathrine she wanted to be there for Nick when he woke up, so they stopped trading rooms.

Cathrine was reading a magazine when she heard a noise from Greg. She looked at him and his eyes began to flutter open.

"Greg? How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" Cathrine asked concerned.

"I feel like I was hit with a bat a few hundred times." He said weakly. Cathrine smiled at his ironic statement.

"It was a trophy, and only about twenty times." Greg smiled. Cathrine always treated him like a son. He was youngest of the team and was the strangest.

"How's Nick?" He suddenly asked. Cathrine looked down at her shoe and Greg knew something was wrong.

"Cathrine?"

"He's um.... he's gonna be fine. The doctor said he has about four broken ribs and his leg is fine now that the bullet's out. The bullet in his stomach just missed his major arteries and his kidney and he needed a blood transfusion. He still hasn't woken up yet, but there's still blood in part of his lung." Cathrine was crying again. She tried to continue. "They said if he tried to..... tried to talk, we should get a doctor because...." She was trying frantically to pull herself together. "Because too much exertion could kill him. Once he starts talking, the blood in his lungs will come up and he'll start having convulsions." Greg lifted up his hand and placed it on her arm.

"It's okay Cat. He's gonna be fine. I just wish I could see him." Cathrine looked at her purse then got pictures out of the side part. She handed them to Greg.

"The doctors took pictures for us. Evidence you know." Greg's face went pale, then a little green.

"Oh my God." He said quietly. He had so many cuts and bruises you could barely tell it was Nick. Suddenly Greg went quiet and started to shake. Cathrine called for a doctor.

"You're going to have to leave the room. He's having a seizure." Cathrine left the room and Sara was out in the hall.

"What's going on?"

"Greg's having a seizure." Sara gasped. The women held onto each other. They decided to go back to Nick's room together.

"He looks a little better." Cathrine said, trying to be positive.

"He's still in a coma. They have a tube down his throat to help him breathe." Sara sat down in the chair beside his bed and grabbed onto his hand. Cathrine sat across from her when the doctor that was treating Greg came in.

"His seizure has been calmed. This can sometimes happen after someone has had some sort of head trauma. He won't be awake for a while though." Cathrine nodded her head and the doctor left.

"I'm sorry Cat."

"For what? It wasn't your fault he had a seizure. I shouldn't have shown him the pictures of Nick, but he wanted to see how he was doing but he couldn't leave his room."

"It's okay Cathrine. You did what you thought had to be done. If only Nick would wake up.

As if on cue, Nick's eyes began to flutter open. His hand immediately went to his throat.

"It's okay Nick. It's just a tube. It's helping you breathe." Sara explained gently. Nick lay his head back down on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. Cathrine had left to tell a doctor that Nick had woken up. She came back a few minutes later with a doctor behind her.

"Okay Mr. Stokes. I'm going to need to breathe out for me." Nick did as he was told and felt something come out of his throat. He was about to cough, but the doctor gave him a shot before he did.

"It's just going to help you. You won't be able to talk for a while and it'll cause extreme pain when you cough." Nick looked at Sara then Cathrine. They both nodded their heads.

Nick began to shut his eyes again when he felt a cough starting to form. He knew from what the doctor had told him that he shouldn't cough, but it was too late. They came out it bursts and then followed by more blood. His chest was constricting every time he coughed. At least three doctors came rushing in, pushing Sara and Cathrine out the door. They raced Nick out of the room, spatters of blood coming out of his mouth and landing on the floor as they went. They took him to the operating room and shut the doors.

Warrick and Grissom had reached their floor when they saw Sara and Cathrine looking at the operating room door.

"What happened?" Warrick asked them. Neither spoke.

"It's Nick. He started coughing and blood just came up. They said they needed to get him to the operating room before his chest constricted any more." Cathrine explained quietly.

"How's Greg?" Grissom asked. Cathrine began to cry.

"He had a seizure and is back in a coma. I showed him..... I showed him the pictures of Nick.... and he..... he just started shaking. I shouldn't have shown him the pictures." Cathrine said crying fully now.

"This week has just went form bad to worse." Warrick stated. They all sat in the waiting room waiting for any sort of news on Greg's or Nick's condition.


	3. Amnesia And A Coma

okay, so I know nobody can solve part of the crime this fast, but isnt Vegas the second best lab in the country? anyway, still not a doctor, sorry fi there are any mistakes in here, I tried to find as many as I could, so that should help. hope everyone likes it so far, and if you've any suggestions, just let me know! now, on with the story!

**Chapter 3  
Amnesia And A Coma**

The CSIs all sat in the waiting room. Warrick had Cathrine sleeping against his shoulder and Sara lay beside Cathrine. Only him and Grissom were still awake when the doctor came.

"I'm just going to cut to the chase." Warrick gently shook Cathrine and Sara awake. They listened groggily.

"Nick is in a coma. We have no idea how long he'll be in there for, but he barely made it through the surgery. We can't remove the blood without severely hurting him." Cathrine and Sara were fully awake now.

"Greg is doing fine. But I must worn you he is very fragile right now." The doctor left the waiting room after giving them the OK to go see Nick and Greg.

Grissom and Cathrine went to see Greg, whereas Warrick took Sara to see Nick.

Grissom and Cathrine entered the room quietly, but Greg was already awake. He seemed to be looking around the room confused. He looked up at them. He started panicking and calling for a doctor. A nurse came in.

"What's the problem sir?"

"Who are these people and why are they in my room?" Grissom and Cathrine looked a them surprised.

"He seems to have amnesia." The nurse informed them. "Don't over excite him, or get him too worked up." she warned them. She left them alone with Greg.

"Greg Sanders, I'm Cathrine Willows and this is Gil Grissom from the crime lab. We're here to find out what happened to you." Cathrine replied, trying to sound as normal as she could.

"Oh I get it now. Your like police officers." That was the sure sign he had amnesia. It annoyed Greg to no end when somebody asked what he did, then have them say 'So your like a cop?'

"Not quite. We investigate the scene of the crime and develop evidence. We're here to help you." Cathrine explained trying not to lose it.

"How did you know my name was Greg?"

"Well, see, this is kind of hard for me to explain this, but..... Before your accident you used to be a Lab Tech for the Las Vegas Crime Lab." Greg looked shocked, then started laughing.

"Your joking right? I don't know a thing about crime scene stuff and developing evidence!" He was laughing hard now. The doctors heard the commotion and entered the room. They put a needle in his arm to calm him down.

"Doctor can you please get these two out of my room? I'm tired, no more questions." The doctor ushered them out into the hall.

"I don't think you should visit him for a while. He's got amnesia and only knows his name and how old he is."

"How long will it take for him to get his memory back?" Grissom asked.

"Maybe two weeks, maybe two months. It's hard to tell. It'll come back to him when it comes back to him. But for now, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." Grissom and Cathrine went down the hall and headed for the elevator.  
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In Nick's room, Warrick and Sara sat quietly, listening to the beeps of Nick's breathing machine. The doctor predicted it would be a while before he woke up, so they didn't have to do much talking.

"Warrick?" Sara asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Nick's gonna make it?" Tears were forming in her eyes.

"Nick's a fighter. I know he'll pull through. But for now, we just have to keep praying that he'll be okay." Warrick looked back down to his magazine. He didn't know what else to say to a grieving woman  
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Grissom and Cathrine came back later that day with some lunch. They ate, tried to hold up a conversation, but it didn't work so they ate in silence.

After lunch Sara had decided to go see Greg for a bit, ignoring the fact that he had amnesia.

"Are you a cop too?" She heard him say annoyingly.

"I'm Sara Sidle. I'm a CSI. Greg I know you have amnesia, but can't you remember something?" Sara pleaded.

"I keep telling everyone, no, I don't remember anything. Are we done yet?" He sat up and looked at her crossly.

She reached into her purse and grabbed her wallet. She opened it up, revealing a mini photo book. She passed it to Greg.

"I don't even know you. Why do you have pictures of me and you together?"

"Greg, I know you don't believe me, but we're like best friends. We talked about everything in the lab. You listened to hard rock whenever you had a long day at the lab in front of you. You said it helped pass the time." Tears streaked down her face, but Greg still didn't believe her.

"Look lady, I don't know you. I don't know any of you. I don't know how you got these pictures, but if you don't mind, would you leave me alone?" He looked at her with exhausted, pleading eyes.

"Alright. I'll leave the picture book here, in case you do remember." She slowly got up and left the room. Greg looked back down at a picture of him and Sara with her on his back at what looked like a picnic. There was the two other CSIs that were visited him earlier, an African-American male and another man, well built with a Texas Rangers shirt on. He stared at the picture until he fell asleep.  
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At the house, Grissom and Cathrine were searching for any clues to who did this.

"Face it Gris, we've got nothing. Nick and Greg are going to be in more danger when we let this guy go..." Cathrine said frustrated.

"Then let's not let him go." Grissom simply replied.

Grissom decided they should try and play out what they knew so far. Cathrine, who was playing Nick and Grissom, who was playing the muderer.

"So Nick was looking for evidence, when he was attacked form behind. That's why he fell forward, onto the linoleum. The blood spatter shows he was two feet away from here though." Cathrine tried to piece it together.

"So Nick was on the floor, then the guy comes up behind him and kicks him breaking one of his ribs. He kicked him a few times, with Nick sliding forward every time. By the time he reached where the blood spatter starts, he got 3 more broken ribs, a few cracked ones and a bleeding lung."

"So with every kick, there was enough force to break his ribs. There was maybe 4, 5 kicks, then Nick started tasting blood." Cathrine pointed to a big blood stain in the floor. She continued on. "After the first burst of blood filled his lung, he was shot. That's why there's a blood trail about two feet. He tried to get away, but was shot again. This time in the stomach. Then the blood in his lung came up and onto the floor. It looks like he coughed up maybe 2 or 3 times."

"There's hand prints. Meaning Nick tried to crawl away. He only made it a foot, then came more blood. From all that blood loss so far, he probably passed out by now." Then they made there way to the living room where Greg was found.

"So Greg must have seen Nick coughing up blood, then tried to fight off the guy. We know the weapon's a gold trophy so....."

"So Greg must have been hit from behind, causing a bruise on his back and him to fall forward on the floor. There's a little bit of blood here, so I'm guessing he was kicked or punched in the stomach, causing the bruise on his stomach." Cathrine finished for him.

"The burns patterns show the fire started 5 feet away from Greg. So the guy must have walked to the middle of the room, lit a match, threw it on the floor."

"But then there would be tracks from his shoes in the carpet, but there is none."

"So, he lit the match, then threw it across the room?" Grissom suggested.

"Neither Greg or Nick moved from there spots on the floor, so they must have been out when he lit the match."

"Or they didn't have the energy to get up and stop him."

"So we've got the how, the what, the where. We need the who and the why."

"Well I'm guessing murderer comes back to the scene of the crime, sees Nick, tries to kill him before he gets any evidence, then is interrupted by Greg, then goes after Greg. After he thinks they're unconscious, he lights the match and runs." Grissom played it out in his head.

"Sounds good to me." Cathrine agreed.


	4. Sleeping Handsome

i just realized something. When I was telling everyone I was really careful when I was checking for mistakes, I spelt if wrong.

Anyway, I'm not sure how many times a week guys go to the gym, so I just made it twice a week. That's probably not right, but it's just a story, no hard feelings. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing and sorry this one's a little late. I'll try to update more, but for now enjoy!

**  
Chapter 4**

**Sleeping Handsome**

Sara kept visiting Greg every day to see if he remembered anything. So far nothing. She was on her way to his room again. She knocked on his room door and heard a faint 'come in.'

"Greg? Are you awake?" She quietly sat beside his bed.

"Yeah." He said groggily. "What do you want?"

"Same reason as every day. I'm going to keep coming here until you remember something."

"I had that dream again last night. It doesn't make sense to me, but it might to you." Sara leaned forward in her chair, urging him on.

"I remember entering a house with someone. I went to the back of the house and he stayed in the kitchen. We were looking for something. Suddenly I heard something crash in the kitchen. I came out to see a masked man in black beating and kicking and punching the guy I came to the house with. Then he shot him. Once in the leg, and once in the stomach. All I saw was red. Every where. I told him to leave the guy alone, then he came after me. He had a gold object, but it was covered in red. He started hitting me over and over again. He hit me in the back and that's when I went down. I looked over and saw the other guy coughing, with red coming out of him. I reached for something in my pocket, but the guy and kicked me, almost knocking me out. Then I looked over and the guy that beat on me lit a match and threw it across the room. There was fire every where. Then it went dark."

"Do you think you could describe what the guy looked like that came with you?" He shook his head.

"He's blurry in my dream. He gets little more clear every time I have the dream."

"How long have you been having this dream for?"

I've been having this dream every time I fall asleep. It started two days ago. I was afraid to tell the doctors. I thought you'd understand."

"I do Greg, I really do." He smiled up at her. Finally there was someone that understood him.

"Is there anything else you don't understand?" Sara asked him. He thought for a moment before speaking up.

"I hear music. It starts out soft, then as I get closer I see someone in some sort of room. The room is full of machines. As I get closer, the music turns into like heavy metal. The guy is dancing around the room while working with the machines."

Sara had tears down her cheeks. He was finally beginning to remember.

* * *

Nick began to stir in his sleep. Warrick reached out and put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

The doctor said his condition was improving, though he still shouldn't get too excited. He could talk a little bit, but not too much.

"Hey Nick. Nick wake up." Warrick said gently. Nick's eyes fluttered open.

"War-" He tried to say.

"Hey sleeping handsome, it's okay. Don't go hurting yourself again. Just write whatever you have to say down on a piece of paper." He handed Nick a pad of paper and a pencil. Almost immediately he started writing. It took him about five minutes to finish writing. He handed it to Warrick when he was done.

_Hey Warrick. How's Greg? I want to see him, but I can't leave my bed. How's Sara holding up? Did you ever find out who did this to me and Greg? I'll try and explain what happened when I can talk. It'd take to long to write. _

Warrick laughed at the last part. "Greg's doing better. He has amnesia though, so Sara goes to see him every day to help him try and remember things. I would take you to see Greg, but the doctor would probably kill me. As for Sara, she was really upset when she heard what happened. She doing better, but she's still upset. I'll go find her for you if you wan....." Nick nodded his head.

"I'll be right back. Don't go dying on me now." They both laughed. He got up and left Nick's room and went down the hall.

* * *

Sara was still in with Greg, but they were looking at pictures, with Sara pointing to each person in the pictures.

"Hey." Sara jumped.

"Warrick, hey. I didn't hear you come in."

"I'm a sneaky kind of guy. I just thought you'd like to know that Nick's awake. He wanted to see you. I'll stay with Greg if you want." Sara agreed and hugged Warrick.

"Thank you Warrick." She left and went to see Nick.

Warrick sat down in the chair Sara had just got out of.

"So....." Warrick tried to start a conversation.

"I like her. She's nice." Warrick laughed. He had liked Sara before the accident too.

"What are you looking at?" Warrick looked down and saw a picture of him, Sara, Nick and Greg down at the park. It was one of the few days they'd spent together out of work.

"What was I like before the accident?" Greg asked suddenly. Warrick's head shot up.

"You? Well, you were the strangest person you'd ever meet, but we all liked you. You had this way with people. You listened to the craziest music and you were everybody's little brother. Everyone looked out for you."

"Well then it must be true. That's what Sara told me too." Warrick smiled. Greg was getting more like the old him every day.

"How's Nick?"

"What? How do you know about Nick?"

"I've been having dreams about the accident. Sara told me the guy that was with me was named Nick. He's right down the hall."

"He's doing better. He just woke up actually."

"Do you think maybe.... you could take me to see him?" Greg pointed to a wheelchair in the corner since he wasn't that good at walking yet.

"Yeah... sure." He brought the wheelchair beside the bed and helped Greg get into it. Once he was in, Warrick took him down the hall to see Nick.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Sara asked Nick.

_I've been better. _He wrote on his paper.

"Greg's starting to remember some things. I gave him a picture of me, you, Warrick and him at the park on our day off. He's......"

"Right here." Warrick interrupted.

"So this is Nick?" Warrick pushed Greg up right beside Nick's bed. He looked at him carefully. "I remember you. You were the one spitting up blood. You were with me that day." Nick closed his eyes, he hated re-living that day.

Before Greg could continue, Grissom and Cathrine rushed in the room.

"Nick!" They both said.

"We've got everything we need. We just need the who. The man was wearing a mask right? Do you think you could tell me any distinct characteristics about him?" Grissom asked. Nick wrote something on a piece of paper and gave it to Grissom. Cathrine leaned over Grissom's shoulder to read with him.

_He was fairly tall, maybe 5'11 or 6 ft. He had pretty broad shoulders and was more built then any guy I've ever seen, like he worked out a lot more than a regular guy would. Or he was a body builder._

"So we're looking for someone who goes to the gym a lot? How many times do you go to the gym Nick?" Nick held up 2 fingers.

"Twice? Okay, so we're looking for a guy that goes more than twice a week. Thanks Nick." Cathrine hugged him. "We need to get back to the lab and look up gym registrations. We'll see you guys later." Grissom and Cathrine left the crowded hospital room

"I knew they would find something!" Warrick exclaimed.


	5. On The Right Trail

ok, last chapter had a lot of mistakes I realize. I'm really trying to read carefully so I can get most of the mistakes but I'm a fast reader, making it almost impossible. I'm only 14 so you can expect some mistakes in here, and I know a lot of you think I spell Cathrine wrong, but that's just the way I learned to spell it. Plus that's how my Aunt spells her name.

Anyway, I hope all of you are enjoying so far, because I'm happy writing it!

* * *

**  
Chapter 5**

**On The Right Trail**

Cathrine looked up at the computer screen for the hundredth time it seemed. So far, there was at least 20 guys that went to the gym more than twice a week, all of which happened to be gay.

She printed out the sheet and got up to leave the room when she thought she saw Greg.

"Greg?" Cathrine said. The lab tech turned, but it wasn't Greg.

"Sorry ma'am, I'm just his replacement until he gets out of the hospital." He continued walking down the hall.

Cathrine shook her head and laughed to herself.

She headed straight for Grissom's office, only to find that he wasn't there, but there was a note.

_Went to the gym to check out alibis. Call me if you get anything._

_-Grissom _

Cathrine reached for her cell and dialed the number.

"Gil?"

"Hey Cath. You saw my note?"

"Yeah. I've got at least twenty guys here that go to the gym more than twice a week, and they're all gay."

"All of them?"

"Every single one. How many alibis have you got so far?"

"I've only talked to three guys, but they were all at the gym when it happened." Cathrine laughed.

"Figures. I'll meet you at the gym. Which one are you at?"

"The gym at the Sphere Hotel."

"I'll see you there."

Cathrine closed her phone and headed to her Tahoe.

* * *

"Chris Vaughn, where were you last Saturday at 11:30 am?" Grissom asked the man, roughly in his twenties.

"I was at my girlfriend's house. You know how it goes." He smiled slyly at Cathrine. She rolled her eyes in return.

"How tall are you?" She asked.

"About 5'10 or 5'11. What does this have to do with anything?"

"We can't discuss the case with you. Do you know April Hincoff?"

Chris stared at Grissom.

"I've seen her here a few time. You might wanna try asking around here. I'm sure somebody could tell you something."

"Thank you for your time." Grissom said suddenly. The officer with them led him out of the room and led in the next guy.

"State your name, age and height for the record." The police officer told him.

"James Hoffart. I'm 27 years old and I'm 6 feet." James was tall, very built, almost like a body builder.

"Do you know anyone by the name of April Hincoff?" Cathrine asked.

"Yeah, I know her. We fooled around a bit. She met somebody else. That was that." He stated flatly.

"So you were her boy toy until she found somebody else?" Cathrine concluded.

"You could say that I guess."

"It must have made you pretty mad when she was using you, an extremely hunky well built guy, to get other guys to notice her."

"I didn't mind really. It was her thing. I was just along for the ride."

"When was the last time you saw her?" Grissom interrupted.

"Saturday morning, around 11:55." Grissom quit moving in his chair.

"Cathrine, I need to speak with you outside for a moment." He led her out the door and into the next room.

"11:55? Doc Robbins said she died around 10:20. That's an hour and 35 minutes AFTER she died."

"Unless he made a mistake. She could have been frozen or something."

"Somethings not right here Cathrine. I can feel it. And I'm going to find out exactly what it is."

* * *

"Warrick would you stop pacing? Your giving me a migraine." Sara said annoyed.

"Sorry, it's just that it's been six hours since Cathrine and Grissom said they had a lead, and we still haven't heard anything."

Sara sighed. They were both in Nick's room with Nick and Greg. He fell asleep in his chair, but he didn't want to leave Nick's side. He felt a kind of loyalty to him, so they left him beside Nick.

Nick was asleep, almost dead looking he was so pale. The doctor had said it was because of the accident, that he'd be better in a few hours.

Suddenly Sara's phone rang.

"Sidle." She answered.

"Sara, it's Grissom. We may have a suspect in April Hincoff's case. He says he saw the vic at 11:55 last Saturday morning. Doc Robbins confirmed that the vic died at 10:20, last Saturday morning."

"Wait a minute, your telling me some guy says he saw the vic, alive, an hour and 35 minutes after she was supposedly killed? That doesn't....."

"You said he saw her alive an hour and 35 minutes after she was killed."

"Yeah, so? Unless she wasn't alive, I don't see....."

"That's it! He had to have killed her! He either saw her dead, or alive, and hour and 35 minutes after she was killed! Nick and Greg got to the house 15 minutes BEFORE James said he saw April! Thank you Sara!"

"Wait, Grissom, who's James?" Grissom obviously hung up because there was dead silence on the other end.

Warrick sat expectantly beside her.

"So?"

"They have a suspect for April Hincoff's murder. Some guy named James I think. He told Grissom that he saw April an hour and 35 minutes after she was killed, and Nick and Greg got there an hour and 20 minutes after she was killed."

"He did what? Why would a guy that committed a murder, then let it slip that he saw the vic 15 minutes after CSI got to the scene?"

"15 minutes after Nick and Greg got to the scene......"

"15 minutes he waited so he could jump Nick and Greg." They both came to the realization of the case.

"Call Grissom." Sara told Warrick.

Warrick grabbed his cell and dialed Grissom's number.

"Gris? James is our guy! Keep him in custody and come to the hospital. Bring Cathrine. I'll explain everything when you get here." He abruptly hung up and left the hospital room.


End file.
